


old bones and rain

by WhyWhyNot



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Family, Family Loss, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyWhyNot/pseuds/WhyWhyNot
Summary: Colin’s sister Annette dies in a car accident
Relationships: Danny Hebert & Colin Wallis | Armsmaster | Defiant, Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver & Colin Wallis | Armsmaster | Defiant
Comments: 37
Kudos: 51





	1. Lost 1.1

Colin is sitting in the break room with Robin, waiting for the coffee machine to fill his cup, when his phone rings.

His civilian phone.

He looks at the number. Unknown. It’s not Annette. It’s not Danny, either, or their home phone. A quick check reveals it’s not the Barnes either.

Warily, Colin answers.

“Colin Wallis?” a stranger asks, and he confirms his identity.

“l’m Ronald Cherry, from Brockton Bay General,” the man says “Can you confirm that you are the brother of Annette Hebert?”

The hospital. Annette. 

“Yes,” Colin says, wariness turning to dread. 

“There was an accident,” the man says, and before he can even say the words Colin knows, with terrible certainty, that his sister is dead.


	2. Lost 1.2

Colin’s face must have betrayed something, because Robin looks concerned.

“Armsmaster? Colin? Is everything all right?” he asks.

“Annette is dead,” he hears himself say. He’s not sure he meant to. The words just… Slipped out. 

Annette is dead. Gone.

He had her on the phone last weekend. She talked about Taylor and Danny. About her students. About the weather. The last time he saw her was for Taylor’s birthday, but the last time he heard her was on the phone last weekend. Their last conversation was about the _weather_ , and then something came up and he hung up. 

He barely said goodbye. 

He should have been there more. 

“Who’s Annette?” Robin asks.

“My sister,” Colin says, and he hears, vaguely, Robin telling him he’s sorry, saying he’ll tell Director Piggot and get Hannah to fill in for him.

Annette is dead. She’s… He… That’s not…

That’s not how it was supposed to go.

Colin was always supposed to die first.


	3. Lost 1.3

Danny and Taylor.

Fuck.

 _Danny_ and _Taylor._

They are… They _were_ closer to Annette than he is. Than he was. This must be hitting them so much harder.

He lost an almost estranged sister. Danny lost a beloved wife and Taylor a loving mother.

(He _loves_ Annette. They weren’t close but he _loves_ her, and it hurts, it hurts so much, even though it shouldn’t.) 

Colin doesn’t know what to do. He’s not… He’s not very good at dealing with other people’s grief. He never was.

(He’s always there, watching the aftermath of tragedy. Powerless, unable to help.)

(His powers and his work never did change that. Not really.)

Colin should call Danny.

He doesn’t know what to say.


	4. Lost 1.4

The call with Danny was…

Harrowing.

He was trying, really. Colin could tell. Trying to hold it together. To hold his composure. Did a pretty good job at it, all things considered. 

Except his voice broke, at the end, and Colin could hear Taylor crying next to him.

They decided Colin would take care of organizing the funerals.

It’s better that way. For everyone.

Danny gets to focus on taking care of himself and Taylor. Taylor gets her father’s focus. Colin gets to be useful. Gets to _do_ something. Gets to focus on something other than the grief.

It’s for the best.

(Danny still chooses the epitaph.)

(He was closer to Annette than Colin was.)


	5. Lost 1.5

Colin has attended too many funerals. Teammates and strangers and heroes of all kind. It never gets easier.

Annette wasn’t especially religious, certainly wasn’t practicing, but she did believe in God on some level. The ritual gestures of the service are a cold comfort, but they ground him. It helps, knowing what to do, and when, and how.

Colin goes through the funerals like walking through a fog. He tries not to think of Taylor’s tears, of the way Danny’s voice broke when his turn came to speak and Alan Barnes had to finish for him.

What could he do?

(He was never good at dealing with the aftermath of tragedy.)


	6. Lost 1.6

The funeral ends, and he feels… stranded. Lost.

People are leaving the graveyard. Colin recognizes a few of them, but not all. Annette’s people. Friends. Co-workers.

Annette’s people. Strangers.

Colin is alone in the crowd and, in the warmth of the late spring, he feels cold.

Some people stop, briefly, to talk to Danny and Taylor. To himself. I’m sorry, they say. Such a tragedy. She deserved better.

 _I’m sorry_ , said the doctor on the phone, whose name he doesn’t remember. 

_I’m sorry_ , said Colin, every time he failed and had to tell someone of the death of a loved one.

Taylor starts crying again, and Danny put his arm around her shoulder and hugs her.

For a terrible second, all Colin can feel is _envy_.


	7. Lost 1.7

The funeral is over and Colin doesn’t know what to do.

The funeral is over. There are no clear guidelines, now, nothing direct he can do, no well-known ritual gestures.

Colin goes back to work. He doesn’t have any better idea.

It’s to late for Annette. There isn’t anything he can do for her, now. He doesn’t know what he _could_ do for Danny and Taylor.

Colin doesn’t know what to do. Armsmaster always have something to work on. Something that can make the difference between someone dying and someone surviving another day.

He’s _useful_ that way.

Colin throws himself into his work, catching up on what he missed at first, and then desperately trying to make headways, to make things better, to _be_ better. He avoids the others, barely talking to any of them for almost two weeks, until exhaustion catches up to him and he lets the promise of coffee drag him to the break room. 

Robin is there.

He asks Colin if he’s all right.


End file.
